Living Among Sasquatch is on Amazon

I recently published my first book, Living Among Sasquatch: a Primer on Lulu.com.   From there, it had to pass some rigorous tests to be listed on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram, and other major distributors and sellers.  I'm please to announce that it has passed.

 Living Among Sasquatch can be purchased on Amazon by clicking here.

Living Among Sasquatch can be purchased on Barnes & Noble by clicking here.

All in all, it is pretty cool seeing something you've toiled over for many months and countless hours come to fruition.

Many of you are probably wondering what all of this Sasquatch stuff has to do with building an off grid house in the mountains.  Well, frankly, I am of the opinion that everywhere there is forest, food, water, and a dearth of people, you will find Sasquatches.  They've been reported in every state in the United States except Hawaii.  Obviously they're also inhabiting most of Canada.

Yep.  I think it is important that if you're building, or considering building, an off grid home in a remote area that you become aware of Sasquatches and their signs and behavior.  Even if you're a skeptic or non-believer, it is worthwhile to know, because like me, it might smack you upside the head one day.

Happy 'Squatchin'!

Lulu

Walking and 'Squatchin' at Gore Landing

It really is beautiful here in north central Florida, despite the lack of mountains.  Pam and I talked about going for a hike at Gore Landing here in the Ocala National Forest in Florida.

Our day started off like most days, with Penelope the Puppy deciding that Ruby slept long enough and she had to wake up and play.

It's a good thing for Penelope that Ruby loves her.

 After lunch it was off to Gore's Landing.  It is winter here and many of the trees have lost their leaves, but the saw Palmettos were as green and lush as ever.

We found multiple instances where trees were stripped of a bit of bark about seven feet off the ground.  I posted this in a Sasquatch Facebook group I belong to.  If not a Sasquatch, it could be bear, or perhaps damage from logging trucks passing by.  I ruled out the logging trucks because if this national forest had been logged, it showed absolutely no signs of it.

The trees damaged were only the long leaf pine, and the trees appeared to be healthy.  I doubt any animal was after grubs.  It looked like whatever it was ate the bark, as there was no bark droppings on the ground.

The word Adirondacks of upstate New York is derived from the Iroquois word ratirontaks, which means "they eat bark" or "they eat trees".  It was thought by white men that the Iroquois used the word as a derisive word for the Abenaki tribe.  What if they actually meant Sasquatch?  

This is, I believe, a partial track of a wild hog.

We finally arrive at the Ocklawaha River.  A good camping spot!

Pam decides to hang her camping hammock.

It fits, is comfortable, and has a bug screen build in.

I try it.  Not bad.

I believe these are wild hog tracks. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

More tree damage.

Pam and I have never "wood knocked". Whacking a tree to attract the attention of a Sasquatch seemed odd. There were too many other signs anyway and we didn't need wood knocks.

But now we're in Florida. Searching for evidence is a whole new ballgame here. In New York, finding tree bend trail markers is easy. All of the northern trees are straight and a tree bend is obvious. Not so in Florida where the trees grow in all directions. There is little undergrowth in the forests Pam and I explore in New York. Florida forests have dense palmetto palm undergrowth.

We were walking down a dirt road today and I found a fairly hefty palmetto branch in the road. I picked it up, sized it up as being a good tree whacker, and proceeded to hit the tree. Knock... knock knock... knock. After only five seconds or so, we got a single knock answer. I looked at Pam and she looked at me... Did you hear that? Yep.

I knocked three more times. Three more times, I got a knock as an answer.

There may be hope for us Yankees searching for Sasquatch in Florida after all.

RV Dogs

We have dogs.  Four at last count.  I can account for the first one, Ruby.  After that it gets fuzzy.  But we love them all, especially when they're asleep.

And cats.  We have two cats.  This is Leo Pard.  Plotting my demise, no doubt.

Pam and I are considering buying a place here in Florida, someplace with enough acreage to keep Jeremiah the Horse and Amos 'n Andy the goats.  Maybe big enough for a secluded man cave too.  We're just in the thinkin' stages here.

The Restoration of the Old Ferguson Tractor has Begun!

Last year, I responded to a call from the Ferguson Enthusiasts of North America.  A Florida member was selling his home and wanted to find a home for his 1950 Ferguson TO-20 tractor.  I contacted Judy, the head of the group who had sent the email, and she put me in contact with Bob Carr, who was the guy giving away the tractor.

I asked Bob where in Florida he was.  The Ocala area, he said.  Really?  I'm in Eureka!  So am I, said Bob.  I'm on NE 148th Terrace!   I'm a block away, said Bob.

So I went to look at it.  It was disassembled, but it was all there.  It looked like too big a job for me, so I contacted my next door neighbor, Denny, who restores stuff.  He looked at it and thought he could restore it, so that's where it went.

They had to clear the decks first of projects they were working on, but now it was time for the Fergy.  First up is the engine rebuild.

"Poor Boy" honing the cylinder.

Denny joined in to clean up the threads on bolts.

Marking a gear for top dead center.

The keys needed to come out of the old crank.

This should be a fun restore, different from the old cars and trucks the guys work on.  Believe it or not, parts are readily available for this old 65 year old tractor, manufactured the same year I was.   And that is old.

Take a Walk Along the Ocklawaha River While 'Squatchin'

Yesterday, Pam and I took the four dogs for a walk along the trail to the Ocklawaha River.  It is a beautiful one mile hike in.  The dogs loved it.  Olivia ran and ran, the pits frolicked, and the puppy kept up.

We were also 'Squatchin'.

Pam investigating a tree bend to see if it was pinned.  Yup.

A horizontal trail marker.

Another.

Obvious tree break.  No snow load here.

A blind near the hiking trail.  We found this last year, still there.

This sand is called "sugar sand" by the locals.

Bear track.

Pam, watching for alligators.

Check out this arch!

Mr. and Mrs. Walking Stick.  He's the small one on her back.

A mighty fine Florida winter day!

Cryptozoology and the Bleecker Mountain Idiot.

cryp·to·zo·ol·o·gy

ˌkriptəzōˈäləjē,-zo͞o-/

noun

1. the search for and study of animals whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Loch Ness monster and the yeti.

I guess Sasquatch is a cryptozoological being since 85% of you reading this believe, as I once did, that Bigfoot was big nonsense.  If you follow this sporadic blog, you know that I now feel differently about it.  Quite differently.

There are three kinds of Sasquatch researchers:

1. The armchair researcher.  This person devours all things Sasquatch related.  He/she reads every book he can get his hands on.  Google is his best friend.  This would be me.
2. The field researcher.  While he/she may read an occasional book or visit a few Facebook pages related to Sasquatch, this person prefers boots on the ground and twigs in her hair.  This would be Pam.
3. The habituator.  This person doesn't have to go anywhere to research Sasquatch.  He/she lives among them.  They come to her.  Habituators develop close and personal relationships with their local Sasquatch, something others cannot achieve.  This would be Pam and I both.

Moving on to other ways to research Sasquatch and other cryptids, there is the conference.  Every field of study has them, and so too does cryptozoology.  Pam and I attended our first conference last week, a cyrptozoologic conference in St. Augustine, and I have the photos to prove it.

The presenters

Everyone, including the audience

A hand carving from New Guinea

Several authors were signing books

The sponsor, located in Portland Maine

A statue of the big guy

A Native American depiction of a Sasquatch crying because everyone is afraid of him

An Indian tale.  Sasquatches come to the villages at night and scoop all of the bad children into baskets to take home to eat.

I've never seen this show, of course, but Pat Spain (Troy NY) was hysterical!

This is Loren Coleman, a famous researcher and author.  I asked him to sign my copy of Cryptid Culture magazine, which has an article about his museum in it.  He graciously agreed.  We're laughing because I told him that to repay him, I would sign my article in the next issue of that magazine.  All he needed to do was to carry it everywhere he went with hopes he'd meet me again.